An investigation into the impact of variations of ambient air pollution and meteorological factors on lung cancer mortality in Yangtze River Delta

Abstract

Lung cancer (LC) mortality, as one of the top cancer deaths in China, has been associated with increased levels of exposure to ambient air pollutants. In this study, different lag times on weekly basis were applied to study the association of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, and NO2) and LC mortality in Ningbo, and in subpopulations at different age groups and genders. Furthermore, seasonal variations of pollutant concentrations and meteorological variables (temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) were analysed. A generalised additive model (GAM) using Poisson regression was employed to estimate the effect of single pollutant model on LC mortality in Yangtze River Delta using Ningbo as a case study. It was reported that there were statistically significant relationships between lung cancer mortality and air pollutants. Increases of 6.2% (95% Manuscript (double-spaced and continuously LINE and PAGE numbered)-for final publication confidence interval [CI]: 0.2% to 12.6%) and 4.3% (95% CI: 0.1% to 8.5%) weekly total LC mortality with a 3-week lag time were linked to each 10 µg/m 3 increase of weekly average PM2.5 and PM10 respectively. The association of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10 and NO2) and LC mortality with a 3-week lag time was also found statistically significant during periods of low temperature ( < 18°C), low relative humidity ( < 73.7%) and low wind speed ( < 2.8m/s), respectively. The female population was found to be more susceptible to the exposure to air pollution than the male population. In addition, the population with an age of 50 years or above was shown to be more sensitive to ambient air pollutant. These outcomes indicated that increased risk of lung cancer mortality was evidently linked to exposure to ambient air pollutant on a weekly basis. The impact of weekly variation on the LC mortality and air pollutant levels should be considered in air pollution-related health burden analysis.

Short-term association of PM2.5/PM10 on lung cancer mortality in Wuhai city, China (2015–2019): a time series analysis

“…Earlier studies corroborated this conclusion (Wang et al , 2019; Zhu et al , 2019). Chung et al (2021), Sloan et al (2012), and Wei et al (2020), on the contrary, observed the inverse. As according studies, the incidence of lung cancer was higher in the high-temperature group and the high-temperature group than in the low-temperature group (Guo et al , 2021).…”

Mathematical modeling in the health risk assessment of air pollution-related disease burden in China: A review

“…In general, air pollutants are negatively associated with temperature, except for O 3 concentration level which is positively correlated to temperature ( 31 , 32 ). O 3 is a secondary pollutant generated by a series of photochemical reactions between precursors such as NO 2 and VOCs in the atmosphere.…”

“…Their study also provided the evidence in which the influences of NO 2 , O 3 , and SO 2 tend to be greater on the cool and dry days, which further highlighted that the effect of meteorological variables such as relative humidity could modify the impact of air pollutants on emergency COPD admissions ( 51 ). A study conducted in Yangtze River Delta reported that the LC mortality increased by 6.3, 4.1, and 4.6% for each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 on a weekly basis, respectively, in the period of relative humidity less than 73.7% ( 32 ). Previous study has reported that greater effect of air pollution on allergic rhinitis, which is one of the allergic respiratory diseases, were observed at low temperature and high relative humidity ( 52 ).…”

Inhalation Bioaccessibility and Risk Assessment of Metals in PM2.5 Based on a Multiple-Path Particle Dosimetry Model in the Smelting District of Northeast China

“…Epidemiological studies show that if the average concentration of PM 2.5 increases by 10 μg·m −3 every two days, the daily cardiovascular mortality rate will increase by 0.36–1.22%, and the daily respiratory mortality increases by 0.74–1.78% [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. If the weekly concentration of PM 2.5 increases by 10 μg·m −3 , the weekly total lung cancer mortality rate will increase by 6.2% [ 4 ]. PM 2.5 concentration is related to severe obstructive and chronic diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems such as asthma and emphysema [ 5 , 6 ].…”